Where the wanderer finds a home
by LittleBlueLux
Summary: At age 19, Ugoki Kitiara leaves her home in the Nadeshiko Village, a small matrilineal village in the Land of Water, to explore the shinobi world. At age 21, she meets a shinobi in need of desperate help near the north region of the Land of Fire. Deciding to help him, she's brought into Konohagakure and from there, her life changes dramatically. Kakashi/OC, set pre-Naruto era
1. OC Character profile

Name: Ugoki Kitiara (Ke-sheer-uh)

Name meaning: Ugoki- Movement Kitiara- Blade of the north

Age: =19 at start (in relation to Kakashi=18, Naruto=4), chapter 4 and onwards= 21 (in relation to Kakashi=19/20, Naruto=5/6)

Birthday: July 5th

Mother: Ugoki Noriko

Origin: Kumogakure

Father: Ugoki Katsumi

Origin: Kumogakure

Clan symbol: 2 Chisa Katanas overlapping at the blades in the middle of a circle

Friends: Nadeshiko - Miyamoto Atsuko, Konoha - yet to come

History: Noriko and Katsumi both originated from Kumo, but at age 7, Noriko fled with parents to Nadeshiko (a matrilineal village). At age 25, Noriko left in search of a partner and found Katsumi (an orphan who left Kumo in search of freedom) while travelling. Noriko went through with Nadeshiko customs and brought Katsumi back after winning a battle. They had Kitiara, at age 30, who lived in Nadeshiko until 19, then went exploring shinobi world. Kitiara holds no rank because of the lack of ranking system in Nadeshiko, but she does have a hitai.

Ninja info

Home Village: Nadeshiko

Current village: wanderer/Konoha

Speciality/strengths: Kenjutsu (both parents come from Kumogakure, her village is in Land of water so some women from Kirigakure brought sword skills with them to Nadeshiko), and taijutsu. She is agile (has to be for kenjutsu) and the taijutsu training has upped her strength.

Weakness: Genjutsu, ninjutsu (only because it hasn't been explored fully), her chakra store is average, definitely could be expanded on. She has briefly touched on chakra control (enough to walk on trees and water), but still has work to do.

Chakra nature: Wind type (this will help with chakra flow)

Appearance

Skin tone: Dark brown

Eye colour: Golden brown

Hair colour: light pink (going onto blonde)

Hair length: for practical reasons, her hair will be short and curly. Just long enough to pinch. (The fact is that she's a black girl with curly hair, so when your fighting all the time, it can't be in the way, also with that humidity, her hair would legit be ruined off the bat.)

Height: 5'6

Body type: Quite fit from all her travelling, due to kenjutsu, arms do have muscle, and she is quite toned in general. She's lean and has a couple of curves, but nothing much due to all the exercise she does.

Clothing: Dark red wrap shirt that has dark blue accents and string to tie it around her lower back. She wears a long sleeve, fishnet shirt underneath it and so the wrap shirt is cropped, to just above her belly button. Airy trousers that are clinched around the ankles, that starts as brown near the top and end at dark red nearer to the ankles. On her feet, she wears standard black shinobi sandals. She has a hitai (with Nadeshiko village symbol on it) and white cloth (to show a little bit of loyalty to Kumo).

A/N Hey guys, so this is my first story, right now I'm on summer break, so I wanted to try this out. I love the anime and Kakashi is most definitely my favourite character. I do think it's a bit of a shame how he wasn't given that much loving in the show, (although that does sort of run with the meaning of his name). So I wanted to do something about it.

I know that there are a lot of Kakashi/OC stories out there, but the Naruto fandom is definitely missing out on some POC characters (I know there are people from Kumo, but that's legit it). I usually dislike reading character profiles, but then I sort of realised that its essential that you guys learn this stuff about her so that I don't have to keep putting it in the book etc.

I hope you guys enjoy the story. Please leave me some feedback, also I do want to get some pictures of Kitiara and a better cover photo for you guys, but I'm a pretty shitty artist, so if you guys know any artists, please get them to DM me!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Panting from my training, I sheathed my twin _chisa katanas_ and walked back to my family home. The streets of the mountain village were quiet, and that was to be expected when one walked around at 11pm. However, I was thankful for the silence, because it gave me the opportunity to think about how I would approach the situation of me leaving the village to my parents.

After some contemplation, I stumbled upon my home in the mountains where I knew my kaa-san's, dark and nimble fingers would be turning the pages of the book she was reading in the living room and my tou-san, Katsumi, would be flitting around the kitchen preparing dinner. I opened the door and saw exactly what I had predicted. In a typical shinobi village, the roles of my parents might have been different, however, this was the Nadeshiko village, a matrilineal village, where women were at the top of the social hierarchy and men were below them. Although this might've been odd to some, it was all I knew and thus I had no problems with it.

I removed my shinobi sandals and walked into the dining area, where my kaa-san and tou-san were.

"Good evening Kitiara," my tou-san greeted loudly, "Dinner is ready, we were waiting for you."

"You mean, _I_ was waiting for you," my kaa-san, Noriko, said quietly, " _you_ " and with that, she pointed to her husband, "were ready to eat."

Before a quarrel could break out between my parents, I sat down on the mat, said a quick _itadakimasu_ and spooned rice and curry into a bowl. I was in the midst of shovelling my food into my mouth because I was exhausted from the long and strenuous training tafu-sensei was putting me through. Noriko coughed a little, which caused me to look up from my overflowing bowl of heaven.

"So, how was training today?" tou-san said before I could respond to kaa-san's subtle indirect.

"Training is ok, but tafu-sensei is definitely making it harder. She's upped my training time and lessened break times, because _apparently_ , (here, I rolled my eyes) if she gives me a 5-minute break and I start talking to her, she says that I can distract her and then we end up having an hour break instead." I said disbelievingly.

Kaa-san and tou-san just stared at me, as if to say, _but that does happen_. I just huffed and continued on,

"Anyways, I think she's increased training because the other day, I mentioned to her that I think it's time for me to leave the village and exp-" I was halted in my sentence by a quiet, yet dominating voice.

"What?" kaa-san said.

"Hmmm..." I said meekly in return, "I-, I'm thinking of leaving the village."

"Why would you do that? When everything you have is here? And you can't surely be thinking of leaving in hopes of finding a husband, because I left to find Katsumi when I was 25" Noriko said.

"Well, I want to get out of here and explore the world. I'm 19 and I've never been outside of the village. Even tafu-sensei thinks I'm ready. Heck, even the village thinks I'm ready because I've got my hitai too. Please kaa-san, tou-san?"

Kaa-san gave a small sigh, "I'm not su-"

She was interrupted by tou-san's "yes."

"You're ready," he turned to Noriko and continued, "We've watched her training with tafu-sensei and you and I both know that Kitiara is more than ready for this."

A week later, after discussing my plans, saying goodbye to tafu-sensei and gathering essentials for my journey, I was ready to leave. I shouldered my backpack further up my shoulders, checked the straps of my sandals and ensured that my _chisa katanas_ were safe on my hips. I usually wear them on my back, but my backpack had taken that spot, so this was the next best option. Finally, after triple checking everything (like food, clothes and money), I turned around to face my parents by the door. This is it, I thought, my chance to experience the world.

"Be careful, won't you? I know you're a great kunoichi, but it's a dangerous world so look after yourself." Surprisingly, it was kaa-san, a retired, yet fearless warrior of the Nadeshiko village, who was fretting instead of tou-san. Tears started to litter her eyes (mind you, this was one of the only times in my life that I had seen her cry) and at that moment, (probably to save kaa-san from feeling any sort of embarrassment) tou-san grabbed both of us and pulled us in for a long embraced. I welcomed it because I knew that it was going to be a long time before I saw them again.

Kaa-san's tears dampened my shirt, which slowly shocked me back to the reality of the situation, thus I untangled my arms from theirs and took a step back. And then another. And another, until I was a fair distance from them. Still facing them, I yelled,

"When you see me next, I'll be with a boyfriend!" with a large grin to accompany the statement. From where I was, I could see tou-san stumble a little bit while kaa-san gave a small and collected smile.

"No boyfriends until you're 4- ouch!" he ended his sentenced with a yelp (no doubt due to kaa-san) while kaa-san just whistled and walked back inside. With that, I knew they'd be alright without me. Sure, it'd be unusual for a while having one less person to cook or clean after, but I'm sure they'd manage.

Due to the Nadeshiko village being on an island, I went straight to the harbour to find Atsuko-san. He was one of the many men on the island who worked at the harbour, using his boat to go to the mainland to collect supplies. Furthermore, his daughter Atsuko Miyamoto was my best friend. We had grown up together, doing play dates and going to the academy together when we were older. After graduating, she decided that she didn't want the life of a kunoichi and decided to work with her father. Although some of the village leaders looked down on this decision (as it was custom for most women to be kunoichi), I supported her fully. Miya-chan wasn't suited for a life of violence, she was too kind and gentle.

Upon arriving, I searched for Atsuko-san on his boat. I found him sorting out his supplies in the cargo hold.

"Good morning Atsuko-san!"

"Oh!" He jumped in fright, "good morning Kitiara-chan! Please, give an old man like me some warning before you go jumping out of corners like that!"

I gave a small laugh and questioned him about our time of departure. With 15 minutes to spare now, I could quickly go find Miya-chan. I searched the bottom decks, but couldn't find her anywhere. So, I walked upstairs to the prow of the ship and stood there, staring at the ever-changing water.

"I do hope you were going to say goodbye before you left," Miya-chan commented while moving up to my side. I didn't turn to her but instead grabbed her hand tightly.

Here, with Miya-chan, I could share my doubts about the situation.

"Miya-chan, what if- what if I'm not ready for this? What if I'm getting ahead of myself and really, I'm just living in a fantasy where I think I'm capable and I'm not?"

"If you weren't ready, then I'm sure your tafu-sensei wouldn't let you leave and your okaa-san _really_ wouldn't let you leave. You are more than ready and more than capable. Everyone in the village knows it. You're one of Nadeshiko's top kunoichi, even the village elders agree. And you know what's better than the village elders' opinion? Mine. I believe that you can do it. You're not meant to stay here, you're a wandering spirit-always on the move and you have been since we were kids. You're meant to be out there in the world, exploring hidden villages, gaining new friends, maybe even finding a boyfriend. You can do it Kitiara. You've just got to believe in yourself."

Miya-chan really had a way with words, because what she just said blew all the doubts out of my head. I could do it. I could leave the village in the hopes of finding myself and maybe even a place where I belong.

As the boat pulled out of the dock, I waved to Miyamoto-chan who stood on the pier. She was waving frantically, and although she was gaining some weird looks, she continued to do.

Finally, when the village was just a speck on the horizon, I turned around and walked down to my cabin. The journey from the village to the mainland would take 3 days. Once there, I'll travel towards the land of waves and from there in a clockwise direction around my map. My last stop should hopefully be the hidden cloud village.

After working my route out, I sunk onto my bed and stared up at the wooden planks lining the ceiling. This is my destiny, and this is what I was meant to do. Let the journey commence, I thought. And with that, I fell asleep to the soft rocking of the boat.

Authors note

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the Naruto franchise, I only own my OCs.

Wow, now that that's out of the way, so guys, this is the first official chapter of Where the wanderer finds a home. I hope you enjoyed it. Also, I just wanted to tell you guys, since some of you might be confused, that when addressing people, or speaking about them, I'll be using honorifics and Japanese words for mum and dad and other traditional Japanese words (like _itadakimasu-_ thank you for the meal). I just think it makes the story more authentic and brings truth to the Japanese origin of Naruto.

Anyways, I'm glad you guys decided to read my story, and I can't wait to post chapter 2 (and write it ). Also, I'll try to make sure my author's notes aren't as long as this next time around.

Love, LittleBluxLux


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After departing Atsuko-san's boat, I travelled for a week until I reached the Land of Water. I decided that it was best for me to only stay for a week in the smaller villages, and then for two weeks in the larger villages (like Sunagakure and Konohagakure).

From the Land of Water, I went to the Land of Rivers (and thus went to the Tanigakure-the Village Hidden in the Valley). It was a small quiet village, however, it lacked excitement, which was what I was essentially looking for on my journey. I then passed onto the Land of Wind, where I found myself in Sunagakure. The Kazekage governs Sunagakure, or Suna for short, the Village Hidden in the Sand. It lies within the desert, between various cliffs of rock. Every building in the village was made of clay, which I suppose was to help keep them cool from the Sun's harmful rays.

In the centre of the desert village was the Kazekage's office building. It was a circular building with the kanji for Wind painted on it's front and it had several windows that lined its sides. It was where I was being led to by a Suna shinobi in order to get permission to stay here for the next two weeks.

The administrator eyed me warily and mumbled something to the shinobi to his left. I thought I was going to see the Kazekage but was told that someone as important as the _Kazekage_ doesn't deal with menial tasks, like a kunoichi from an "unknown" village requesting permission to stay in Suna. I rolled my eyes at this, for all they know, I could be lying and planning to blow up the whole of the village. Obviously, I wasn't, but you understand what I meant.

After some questions about my heritage and other standard questions, the administrator deemed me safe and stamped my request form. I was led to the hostel where I would be staying at for the following two weeks.

I sat my bag down and walked into the bathroom. There, I stared at myself in the mirror. My dark brown skin and lightly coloured curly hair _obviously_ brought up some queries that the administrator felt the need to address. My look was native to the people in Kumogakure and with the Third Shinobi World War just finishing 6 years ago, it wasn't surprising that he felt suspicious.

Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds, fought against Konohagakure in the last war and although both Kumo and Suna disliked Konoha, that didn't equate to an alliance between the two villages. Another example of mutual dislike was Iwagakure, the Village Hidden in the Rocks, and Suna. Iwagakure was the main opposition to Konoha in the last World War, however, Suna and Iwa both dislike each other due to their closeness in proximity. I wasn't too sure if there was any animosity between Suna and Kumo, however, it was clear that shinobi and people, in general, weren't going to be taking chances with foreigners.

People tended to be on guard towards anyone who was foreign, therefore I knew that I would have to take all of the strange looks and fearful expressions with a pinch of salt and just try to make the most of my time here. With that in mind, I stepped out of my room and headed out into town. My main objective was to find dinner as it was almost dark and I was worn out from my long days of travelling.

The streets were quiet with only the chatter of people from inside restaurants or the odd child running down the road towards home for dinner. One restaurant at the end of the street caught my attention because it was the only restaurant on the main street that didn't serve sushi, one of the foods that I wasn't a fan of. I walked inside and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

It was obviously one of the more quieter restaurants, as fewer people frequented it and yet that was what I liked about it. The calm, yet mysterious nature of the restaurant was inviting and in a sense, it lured you in. When you enter it, there was a bar to the left with seats and then tables and chairs in the middle with booths to the right by the windows. Tall plants in pots were dotted around the shop, in corners and on tables, which was an unusual sight in the desert, which was so sparse of any greenery. I found that the plants only added to the atmosphere and thus, I embraced them.

I sat down at a booth and picked up the menu on the table. Since there was no sushi, and the restaurant mainly served meat, I was going to order my favourite dish.

"Excuse me? Are you ready to order?" A voice piped up on my left. Startled, I whipped my head around and placed my hand on one of my katanas on my back.

"Eeep! I'm sorry to have scared you! I didn't mean it at all!" The poor young waitress was sweating bullets while her hands waved about frantically. _Honestly_ , the sweat was starting to drip onto the table and I was a little disgusted. But what can you do when you're a civilian and are almost held at knifepoint? Seeing her shock, I quickly apologised and said,

"I'm so sorry for that! I'm was day-dreaming so much that I forgot where I was and you just startled me, that's all! I really am sorry." By now, the waitress, whose nametag said Emi, had calmed down and wiped her forehead.

"Ok, so…" she breathed out, "welcome to the _Niku to Arukōro_ , what would you like to eat and drink?" In response, I ordered some beef _yakitori_ , a side of rice, and _sake_ , a simple yet delicious dish.

Emi walked off and delivered my order to the kitchen. I turned and stared out of the window. A small group of kids of around 2 boys and 2 girls, probably around the age of 5, were playing ball games out in the street. They were all giggling and laughing as children do, however, I couldn't help but notice, that in a small alleyway near to the children, a child, smaller than the others, peered at them with shy wonder.

He had a mop of blazing red hair and bright turquoise eyes. He was small in stature, which I suppose, allowed him to hide and not be seen easily. From what I could see, it looked like he wanted to play with them, and yet something held him back. Gathering courage, he cautiously stepped forward into the slowly dimming street and shuffled towards the other children.

The interaction went a lot differently than I expected it to. Instead of welcoming him with happy shrieks of joy and gap-toothed smiles, the children stared, screamed and then ran off. The only trace of them being there at all was the small clouds of dirt they'd kicked up in their hurry and their ball.

"That's Gaara-san," Emi whispered beside me while placing my food down, "He's the son of Kazekage-sama."

"What's wrong with those children? Why don't they want to play with him?" I asked while she put down my sake bottle and small cup. She looked conflicted as if there was a reason, but she couldn't share it. Not with a _stranger_ anyway.

I turned to face the boy, no Gaara and saw that he was slowly making his way down the street. Something stirred within me. A feeling of restlessness and the compelling desire to do something. I didn't truly understand it, but who was I to go against my emotions?

I turned to Emi, expecting to see her there next to me, however, instead she was walking out of the kitchen and back towards me with a takeaway bag and some food containers.

"I'll pack these up for you and place an extra pair of chopsticks in there, ok?" she gave me a glance and small smile while she completed her actions. I was confused by her actions until it dawned on me. She had _somehow_ translated the emotions that I had felt, and that must have been present on my face, into the idea that I wanted to go after him.

I stood and gave her a small bow and said,

"Thank you Emi-san, I appreciate this. I'll be here for the next two weeks, so you'll be seeing a lot of me. I'm Ugoki Kitiara, and it was a pleasure to meet you." She gave a small wave in return and responded with,

"The pleasure is all mine Ugoki-san. Just before you go, would you like to meet up tomorrow morning, say about 11?" I gave a small startled look to this, which caused her to explain that,

"You're new around the village, you seem like a lovely person and I would love to show you around," I responded with an affirmation and turned onto the street. Gaara was gone, so I travelled in the direction I had seen him walking in. After turning the corner onto another road, I saw a flash of red disappearing around another corner.

A little while after the wild goose chase, well it wasn't that _wild_ (only because he was walking slowly on 4-year old legs), we arrived at the back of a building. Gaara climbed up the ladder to the roof and after a few minutes, I followed. However, as soon as I got to the top, a quiet and quivering voice called out,

"Why are you following me? Have you come to make fun of me too? Why aren't you running away in fear?"

The small boy stood on the edge of the roof as tears glistened in his eyes and some of the sand around us rose menacingly. That was odd, but I couldn't pay attention to it as I had to focus on the nearly hysterical child in front of me. His fists were also clenched tightly. So tight, that they were vibrating, with fear or anger, I wasn't too sure. But what I _was_ sure of is, that at that moment in time, that boy needed a friend. And after watching the encounter previously, I understood that he pretty much didn't have any.

I rolled the ball towards him and he glared at it, offended like it had personally attacked him or something of the sort.

"Come on, kick it back. You do know how to play football, don't you?" I said back teasingly. I had skirted around his questions because, in all honesty, I didn't have an answer to them. My reasoning was unexplainable, I didn't know the kid, and I was only in town for two weeks. I didn't have to bother him, and yet I did?

He just stared at me, and then the ball, and then me again. The tears that had dried up renewed themselves as rivulets began to run down his cheeks. He sobbed a little but kicked the ball back. We did this for a couple of time, with Gaara wiping his cheeks, eyes and nose (gross) in the process.

It was dark when we finished so we sat on the edge of the building to look at the stars. Although they were strewn haphazardly across the night sky, they were still beautiful. The scenic moment was broken by a small grumble, which turned into a louder gurgle.

I looked out of the corner of my eye towards the small boy next to me, who looked at me from the corner of his eye too. His cheeks began to flush red and he turned his face away from me. I started to chuckle, which then turned into full-blown laughter. It was just that he looked so adorable, all shy and everything, while his face blossomed into the colour of his hair.

I picked up the bag of now cold takeaway, opened it and said,

"Here, you can have the rice, while I have the _yakitori_ , because sorry kid, I may like you, but _yakitori_ is my favourite food and I've got to have it." He pulled a funny face and said a small thank you. We both said _itadakimasu_ and dug into our meals.

Stomachs full, heart's content, we both sighed. My watch told me that it was nearing 10 pm and with that, I cleared up our take out, placed my sake into my bag -because I _really_ couldn't drink that around a 4-year old- and got up.

"Will I see you again?" Gaara almost mumbled with his eyes lowered to the ground and his hands twisted up in his t-shirt, probably because he was afraid of the answer. I smiled and said yes, because I knew that most people in his life seemed to leave as soon as they came, leaving him in pain. Although I was leaving in two weeks, I wanted to make these the best two weeks of his life.

We decided to meet tomorrow, around 6 pm at _Niku to Arukōro_ and set off on our journey to our respective homes/lodgings. I wanted to escort him back to his home, but he waved me off saying he was able to get home perfectly fine. So I turned around and started to walk off, only to realise that I had no clue where the hostel was.

Hey guys, so I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I wasn't sure if I wanted her to meet/ interact with Gaara because I didn't want to change his nature and personality in Naruto. But then I figured out a way to make them interact and for him to still be the same Gaara we meet in the Chunin Exams arc.

This chapter is definitely longer than chapter 1, and I'm not too sure why, but I hope you liked it anyway. Next chapter, we'll hopefully be meeting the stranger I mentioned in the story description! If not, feel free to hit me through the screen because I slyly feel like I'm taking too long. Anyways, _Niku to Arukōro,_ funnily enough, means meat and alcohol (or that's what the translator told me) because I couldn't think of a good restaurant name. Also, _yakitori_ is just chargrilled skewers of meat. I want to clear up the idea with honorifics. Kitiara will use honorifics when speaking, so "Thank you, Emi-san," etc, but when she's doing a description "Emi walked to the kitchen," etc, then she won't do honorifics.

Also, please don't forget to comment, like, review, vote etc.

Love, LittleBlueLux


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _Don't you think it's time to move on?_

The words for tou-san and kaa-san's last letter reverberated in her head. Kitiara rolled to the other side of her bed in her apartment trying (and failing) to diminish the sound the words. Sure, she had stayed in the Sand village for _far_ longer than she thought she would (give or take 11 months longer) but still, it was nice here. She had friends, teachers and a steady income. What wasn't there to love?

But then Kitiara was reminded of why she had left her hometown in the first place, Kitiara had exactly the same things as she did in Suna (aside from a steady income), so why did she stay? Didn't she want to do what she had set out to do in the first place? Wasn't her objective to explore the shinobi world and learn more about the different cultures out there? Maybe she _had_ grown too comfortable with the life she had led here.

It was November now, a year since the kunoichi had first come to Suna and a year and two months since she had left her parents. Her 20th birthday last July had come and gone, and with it went more time. Time that she could've spent in various villages and towns, gathering new information and items. But instead, Kitiara was here in Sunagakure. Don't get her wrong, she had a wonderful time celebrating with the new friends (who were slowly becoming like family to the 20 year old) she had obtained, but what about all the other people she had yet to meet?

Perhaps it was time for her to pass on to a new village. If her mind couldn't sense it, then her body could. She was slowly becoming more and more restless as the days went by. Even her friends, especially Emi (one of Kitiara's closest friend and first friend in Suna), could feel that there was something _off_ about her, in these last few weeks. She would always brush off her questions with a simple "nothing" because she didn't know why either. She would always respond with the same look of _if you don't want to tell me now, fine. But I know that something is wrong._

All these thoughts of the future were giving her a small headache, so she decided it was best to stop thinking about it and go for a walk. The Nadeshiko native slipped her _chisa katanas_ onto her back and walked out of her apartment. Walking through Sunagakure in the middle of the night, when the Moon was shining high in the sky, was a feat in itself. The streets weren't busy (mainly because everyone was asleep) which brought an eerie and daunting nature to the village.

On the way to my spot, she passed the academy. The shinobi academy was quite similar to the other buildings in the hidden village. It had a rounded roof and small windows lining its sides. It too, like the others, was made from clay to help keep the children and teachers (like me) cool. Working there was a blessing and a curse. Kitiara loved it because, in a way, she was shaping the younger generation into people who helped protect their loved ones and their village from serious dangers. But, at the same time, she felt like there was a possibility that she was preparing them for their deaths. Although the kunoichi didn't witness the Third Shinobi World War, the horrors of it that she had heard about were terrifying to even think about. One could never know whether they've taught their student everything they need to know to survive until the 12-year old is called to be put on the front lines of one of the deadliest wars ever to have happened. Only then, will a teacher know if they've done enough.

Finally reaching the training grounds, Kitiara paused to have a look around and see if anyone was present. They weren't, which was good because she had some steam to let off that night. The frustration of knowing that she would have to leave and say goodbye to everyone soon had built up inside her and demanded to be released.

Kitiara walked into training ground 2 and saw training dummies strewn across it. Huffing a sigh, she tiredly collected them all one by one and lined them up on their corrective posts. Now, she could do what she had come for. She unsheathed her katanas and held them at the ready. She closed her eyes and breathed. The kunoichi was waiting for the right moment. The right moment to str-

CLANG! CRASH! Kitiara jumped into the air, katanas waving around manically in the air while she tried to figure out what had broken her concentration. There in the bushes lining the training ground, with the weapon rack strewn across the floor, was Emi's friend, Kaito.

Kaito was a handsome, but clumsy shinobi of 19 years old with tanned skin (from the Suna sun), dark hair and eyes and a great sense of humour. He happened to have a crush on Emi, but she didn't know that, as seen through her various attempts to set up Kaito and Kitiara. This was a problem for both the shinobi and kunoichi, but they took it in their stride and laughed together after each attempt while thinking of ways to get Kaito and Emi together.

He also worked at the academy with Kitiara, usually aiding the children in taijutsu training. Although Kaito was skilled, his clumsiness was a major liability and could jeopardise a mission or his comrades, which was why he was limited to any missions in the village or teaching at the academy.

The 19 year old, like many other Sand village shinobi, used wind-release for their ninjutsu and thus was very helpful in aiding Kitiara (who too found out she used wind-release) with her jutsus. When she arrived in the village almost a year ago, she didn't know any wind jutsus, mainly because in her village, they mainly favoured kenjutsu (due to the heavy influence of Kirigakure and Kumogakure around them). After being introduced to one another at the academy and then again by Emi, they found similarities in their releases and soon a beautiful friendship was born. He helped her develop a sizable collection of wind ninjutsus to use, while she helped improve his general bukijutsu.

The next step for Kitiara would be to combine her wind jutsus with her weapons, however, although she can utilise her chakra well enough to perform ninjutsus, she still has problems with chakra flow. Asking any Suna shinobi for help could easily solve this problem, but Kitiara didn't want to intrude on anyone's time.

"Sorry Kitiara-chan, sorry for that…" Kaito winced and babbled, "I saw you walking around and I couldn't help but wonder what you were doing up at this time of night."

Kitiara sighed and replied with,

"Its ok Kaito-kun, I've got a couple of things on my mind, so I thought that some training could help me. It was anyways until you showed up causing a scene." She laughed at the end of the statement as Kaito's cheeks and ears began to flush a deep red. To save him some embarrassment, she continued saying,

"Would you like to spar with me? Training is boring by myself and now that you're here, you may as well do something useful."

Soon, they found themselves in their respective fighting stances. Kitiara held her twin _chisa_ _katanas_ in position and Kaito prepared his hands for the correct seals of a wind release jutsu. Neither spoke, but they didn't have to, because they knew when to being.

 _Now,_ Kitiara thought, as she raced towards Kaito. He stood there and then faster than the eye could see; he already had the seals for _Fūton: Kaiten Shuriken_. The shuriken, aided by the wind, travelled at immeasurable speed, therefore, it was inevitable that Kitiara got struck by at least one (even if she had been training with Kaito for a year and therefore knew his moves).

She kept on running towards Kaito, not slowing down for a second until she reached him, where she swung her right katana towards his head. Thinking fast, Kaito brought up two kunai is an X formation to block her strike. But he seemed to forget that Kitiara had two katanas and so she swung her left one towards his ankles. This attempt was a success as Kaito was nicked by the blade. Although it happened quickly and he had jumped back to avoid the next hit, Kitiara's blades were sharp, and therefore meant that his wound was soon going to be bleeding profusely.

"You play dirty, Rara-chan," he said while smiling teasingly. If a stranger looked at him at that moment, they would think he was flirting with her, but a friend would know better. He was baiting her, pushing her to the edge. He wanted her to release whatever confusion and issues she had earlier. If this was the way he could do it, then fine, by all means, he would do it.

"I've told you before, and I'll tell you again, stop calling me that!" With that, Kitiara rushed towards him, swinging her blades in an almost dance-like manner. She was light on her feet and moved quickly, yet her strikes held power behind them. It was a struggle for Kaito to keep up, mainly because kenjutsu or even bukijutsu wasn't his strong suit. In order for Kaito to win, he was going to have to put some distance between them.

He leapt to the right for more space and made the hand seals for _Fūton: Toppa_. Kitiara turned towards him but was too slow. The vortex of wind from his mouth pushed her into the lining of bushes on the other end of training ground 2 which ended with her getting got scratched by several plants.

She shakily stood up, by using one of her katanas dug into the ground and walked (or more like walked when she's drunk one too many sakes) back to Kaito. When she neared her, she gave him the meanest stink eye.

"If my hair was long, I really would've killed you, ya know?" she said while massaging her back.

"Sorry, but if I didn't get away, you would've killed me. And then what would happen? How do you think Emi-chan would feel?"

"Probably better knowing that the cockroach who continually pesters her has finally been exterminated." She gave a sardonic smile and ducked as a kunai sailed towards her head at a dangerous speed. She came back up, but Kaito had disappeared. What Kitiara didn't notice (because her sensory skills were pretty trash) was that Kaito was roughly 2 metres behind her and was completing the seals for _Fūton: Reppūshō_. The move would've worked _perfectly_ if Kaito hadn't stepped into a rabbit's burrow and made a small squeak as he tripped forwards. Kitiara hearing the sound jumped forward just in time to see Kaito smackdown straight onto the dirt floor on the training ground.

After a few seconds (more like minutes because every time she stopped and looked at him still on the floor, she laughed like a demented seal) of hearty laughter, she nudged him with her sandal. Once she heard a small groan, she gave a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't dead before confessing his love to Emi.

"Come on," she said as she hauled one of his arms across her shoulder, "let's get you to the hospital.

"If your original plan was to travel around the shinobi world, then why are you still here?" Kaito said. Although it was a blunt statement, it was one that Kitiara needed to hear.

"Yeah, but I've made a life for myself here. I've got new friends, a job… How can I just abandon all of that?" Her eyes were downcast.

"No one is telling you to abandon anything. It's not like you're leaving forever. You can always visit back and write letters. Sure we'll miss you and you've become a younger sister to me-"

"I'm older than you!" she replied, interrupting his sentence.

"-Anyways," he rolled his eyes, "it is time for you to go. Don't think I haven't noticed how restless and frustrated you've been getting this past couple of weeks."

Kitiara couldn't help but silently agree with him. Hearing all of these points only validated the emotions she had felt these few weeks. Now knowing her answer, she stood up and walked to the exit.

"Thanks for that," she said as she looked over her shoulder, "I guess you're not as bad as I thought, but that still doesn't mean I'm not going to tell Emi-chan about how you got in here!"

With the sound of Kaito shouting in indignation and the healer shouting back at him to rest, Kitiara scuttled out of the hospital.

A week later, Kitiara had said her farewells to her friends. Emi gave a teary goodbye, and so did Kaito weirdly enough, but he blamed it on the allergies (even if it was mid-December). The students at the academy gifted her wind a card, which had a two (very badly drawn) katanas on the front and everyone's name inside. Her colleagues gave her a bottle of sake (which none of the children saw- thank god) as a parting gift.

There was only one person left for Kitiara to say goodbye to now. The son of the Kazekage, Gaara. After their fateful meeting on her first night in Sunagakure, they had become fast friends (perhaps Gaara's only friend- aside from his uncle). She had taught him a lot in terms of social skills and he had vastly improved in the last year. She was sad to leave him, but this was part of her destiny, and if they were to meet again, Kitiara believed they would.

She walked into the Kazekage office building and just to the left of the receptionist, sitting by the wall, was the small redheaded child. She crept towards him, as his head was down, and just as she was about to scare him, his head flew up and his eyes met hers. They had a stare down before she sighed dejectedly, turned around, and started walking out of the building. She called out saying,

"Come on then."

He hurried on after her down the main street, which was slowly becoming busier the later the day became. Since it was only morning (around 10am), there were only 1 or 2 shoppers about but hit 4pm (when the Sun was starting to lower and it was no longer dangerous to shop) and it was a nightmare.

They walked in a comfortable silence. There was no need for them to talk as being there for each other was enough. They ended up at one of the remote corners of the Sand Village (as their first meeting spot wasn't the best place to be as the Sun rose higher into the sky). There was more greenery around there and Kitiara and Gaara sat down on the sand that was littered with odd patches of grass.

"So…" Kitiara started off. "As you know, I'm a traveller-Gaara knew this too well as he often asked her to recount stories of her time Land of Water, Waves or Rivers-and I've decided that now is the right time for me to leave and continue my journey."

Kitiara nervously awaited his answer. To be honest, she felt incredibly nervous. Here, she had a child with terrible commitment issues whom she said she'd be a friend to and now she's leaving him, just like all the other people in his life. She could only pray that Yashamaru-san remained by his side to guide and love him whilst she was gone.

Too caught up in her feelings, she didn't notice the child's hand curling into a fist. Or the small tears that began to build at the corners of his eyes.

"Why? Why would you leave me? Did I do something wrong? Do you not like me anymore? Is it because I didn't give you anything in return? I can give you something, anything, I'll ask Yasham-"

Kitiara fiercely twisted in where she sat and raised her arms. He flinched and then froze. Her arms were wrapped around him so tightly he could barely breathe. Kitiara thought he _had_ stopped breathing and went to pull away from him, but a small sound of protest made her stop.

Gaara didn't turn in to face her or put his hands around her but remained stock-still. _This was probably the first proper hug Gaara has ever had_ , thought Kitiara. The child, frozen in his seat, didn't know how to react. He was shocked. A feeling, weird and foreign broke out from all the areas that Kitiara was hugging. It bubbled all over until they combined in his chest, right above his heart.

A small whimper sounded and Gaara didn't know where it came from until he realised that it was from him. More whimpers came out until big fat tears rolled down his face and he was suddenly crying. Kitiara held him tighter in response.

"I'm scared. You've helped me a lot and when I'm with you the pain inside me goes. I don't want the pain to return. Please stay with me."

"Oh Gaara, you're making this very difficult for me." At this, she began to rub her hand up and down his back. "I have to go. That was my original plan, and I've already stayed for far longer than I intended to. If I stay, I won't be able to experience different parts of the world and collect more stories for you. But, if you'd like, we can always send each other letters? That way we can keep in touch. I'll send you letters describing all the new things I encounter, like the food, the people and the animals." With each new thing, she prodded his stomach lightly in hope of cheering up the boy.

It worked as a small smile appeared on his face. All that mattered to Kitiara was that he was smiling before she left. She shuffled him a bit and used one of her arms to dig around in her pocket. After a few seconds, she pulled out her gift to him. It was badly wrapped-Kitiara was terrible at wrapping gifts, just ask her tou-san who had to wrap all her gifts when she was back at home. She handed the small gift to Gaara and watched as he gazed at it in awe.

He hadn't opened it as he was still looking at it amazed. It was probably the first gift he had received ever that wasn't from a family member. He had the small teddy from Yashamaru, but that didn't really count. This was from a stranger, someone who wasn't part of his family and therefore obligated to get him something. Kitiara _chose_ to get Gaara a gift and he couldn't fathom why.

Dark hands pulled the gift from his fingers and slowly began to unwrap the paper. After wrestling with it-the ribbon was very, very intricately tied, as Kitiara would say (or knotted as others would say), she managed to loosen it. She pulled out a small silver necklace that had the kanji for love as the pendant.

"Here, this is for you. It's to remind you that no matter where you go, my love and Yashamaru-san's love will be with you always. Also, it's an early birthday gift as I won't be here in January. Who knows, if you're good enough, I might get you something else too." She lightly chuckled.

He told her thank you and she helped to put it on. The silver glinted in the sun prettily and Gaara gave Kitiara a _slightly_ bigger smile than before (this was a huge difference from his normal stoic facial expressions) and she knew that everything was going to be alright.

Kitiara stood at the gates of Sunagakure. It was now 3pm. The sun was still up, yet low enough that it was safe to walk in the desert. She was hoping to make it to the Ishigakure (the Village Hidden in Rock) by next week. This would, unfortunately, mean camping out in the desert alcoves, eating any bento boxes and plants she had stocked up or, as a last resort any military ration pills. In the desert, she wouldn't be able to light any fires, one for lack of wood and two for the possibility that it would signal to animals and passing enemy ninja that she was there.

Taking all of this into account, Kitiara readied herself for her journey again. She felt slightly nostalgic at the fact that a just more than a year ago, she was doing the same thing, yet her parents were there to see her off. Today, she had no one. She had said her goodbyes knowing that everyone was busy today, and that was good enough for her.

Kitiara twisted around, gazed at the place she had called home for a year, and then set off into the slowly dimming desert.

Heyyyyy guys, please don't hate me because 1) I took so long to update and 2)We didn't meet the character I wanted you guys to! I took so long because it was my birthday last Thursday and I've legit had no free time since then. I tried to give an extra long chapter to make up for this. Also, I switched to 3rd person if you noticed, just because that's naturally what's easier for me to write in, and I write more in 3rd person.

Quick vocab: _Fūton: Kaiten Shuriken-_ Wind Shuriken, _Fūton: Toppa-_ Breakthrough, _Fūton: Reppūshō-_ Gale Palm. If you want to search up the moves, they're all on the naruto wikia page.

Also, a huge thank you to you guys who regularly review: Nerdcat21 and sarahmchugs. Sending virtual cookies your way!

For those who don't know, Yashamaru is Gaara's uncle. Gaara doesn't use honorifics for him in this story because he didn't in the anime.

Next chapter, Kitiara will most definitely hit upon Konoha. Please review, like, comment, vote etc

Love, LittleBlueLux x


	5. Chapter 4

The journey out of the Land of Wind took Kitiara roughly the amount of time that Kitiara had predicted (a week). Ishigakure, the Village hidden in Stones, is a ninja village located between the Land of Earth and Wind. Not much is known about the village aside from the fact that several terrorists with unique kekkai genkais hail from this village. This knowledge was enough for Kitiara to know that she could not stay long in Ishi, and therefore she only stayed long enough to collect more supplies, visit a hot spring for a wash and a bar for a quick rest and food.

Kitiara had decided to avoid the Land of Earth entirely, as it was well known throughout the shinobi world that Iwagakure was a highly hostile place. Even though Kirigakure was similar in reputation to Iwa, Kitiara was familiar with the Land of Water and it's villages. There, in the Land of Earth, she didn't know anyone. She was a stranger originating from the Land of Water who bears the resemblance of a Kumo nin. All in all, visiting Iwa was a literal recipe for disaster. These reasons influenced why she decided to go to Amegakure instead.

Although the Amegakure was largely involved in the Second Shinobi World War (through their leader Hanzo), it had a small part in the third and was therefore safe to stay and travel through. It was a mere 2-day journey between the two villages. By the time Kitiara had reached Ame, she was ready to collapse. She had been travelling non-stop from Suna (nearly 2 weeks ago) with rests only occurring at odd intervals in odd places (like a desert cave or a bar filled with possible terrorists).

The Village Hidden by Rain truly did live up to its namesake, as rain poured down from the heavens onto Kitiara who was absolutely soaked to the bone. Her clothes were more suited to Suna weather (a silly mistake) and so she quickly ran across a large bridge as Ame had a fairly sizable lake surrounded it. _This is probably where all the water ends up_ , Kitiara thought. After crossing, she walked, or more like dragged herself, to the gates of the village.

"Who goes there?" A voice called out from under some tarpaulin to the left of the gate.

"I'm a kunoichi from the Land of Water looking for a place to rest for a few days." She heard indistinct mumbling for the Shinobi, probably deciding whether to let her in or not. At that point, Kitiara was ready to drop onto her knees and plead them to let her in. Obviously she wouldn't do that, as the muddy ground would soil her clothes. And her dignity wouldn't allow her, but mainly for her clothes. A yell sounded out from the raised platform, and then Kitiara heard more mumbling. She knew that Ame nin were short-tempered, but didn't they'd get into an argument about this.

The guards didn't give Kitiara her answer in a verbal form, but rather a physical one. The gates, which were slick with the rain, opened slowly, and just when there was enough room for Kitiara to slip through, she did.

Amegakure was truly a sight to behold. The nighttime sky did nothing to subtract from its traditional yet, industrial beauty, in fact, in her opinion, it seemed to amplify it. It was astounding, a small yet bustling village full of nin, civilians and refugees, even in the middle of the night.

"Over here," a slightly nasally voice called out from the left hand side. She turned her head to see a Shinobi standing there in typical Amegakure wear, rebreather and all. She walked towards him, wiping the rain from her eyes.

"Before you can stay in the village, we must conduct several security checks on you, and if you're accepted, you'll be monitored for the entirety of your stay."

 _This is going to be one month long pain in the ass_ , Kitiara thought, as they stepped out of the cover and into the Ame darkness.

She only stayed a week. A week. Pathetic really, but she felt so unnerved by being surrounded by people who gazed at her through goggles and spoke through rebreathers. She had planned on staying longer, but permanent surveillance wasn't her thing, and to be honest, she didn't think it was anybody's thing.

She collected her bags, _chisa katanas_ and newly acquired umbrella and walked out of the inn. She couldn't help but feel like she was being watched, which she was probably was. She notified the guards of her leave and stepped out of the village onto the surrounding lake. From here, she would travel northwards to the Land of Grass that hosted Kusagakure, Village Hidden in the Grass.

Due to the most recent World War occurring in and around this village, Kusa too had tightened up their security protocols, resulting in visiting shinobi only being allowed into the village for a maximum of 3 nights.

Kitiara used her first day to rest and eat after spending the last 2 of her 4-day journey to Kusa eating soldier pills. Her inn had a hot spring in the garden, which she used extensively on her second day. The last day of her stay in the ninja village was spent creating a route to the next village and collecting supplies (like food and ninja tools) for her journey.

She left early in the morning of the fourth day in order to get a good distance behind her.

Kannabi Bridge in the Land of Grass was a key turning point in the Third Shinobi World War as it tipped the scales in favour of Konoha over Iwa. Many lives were lost there, and thus Kitiara spent 5 minutes paying her respects to those who died. Although many of the people who died mistreated innocent people, Kitiara felt like it was only right to give them a thought as they were only following orders.

Shinobi are thought to be tools used at the disposal of people of higher power (like _kages_ and _daimyōs_ ). This statement was absolute crap to Kitiara because it completely takes away the fact that before anything else, shinobi are people, with their own emotions, thoughts and families.

By day 4 of her 5-day journey towards Takigakure (Village Hidden by a Waterfall), Kitiara was moving between the border of the Land of Grass and an unnamed country (that was odd, as on Kitiara's map, it didn't have a name). The grasslands of the previous country had thickened into a slight mountainous terrain with a full green forest, which was overflowing with life.

As the sun was setting and the evening was drawing closer, the temperature began to decrease. A chill began to run through the forest, inadvertently causing Kitiara to shiver. Now, having grown up in the Nadeshiko Village, where women are expected to be fearless and practical, Kitiara didn't believe in ghosts, that's was more Mei's thing to be honest. But here, in the darkness, Kitiara felt a sliver of doubt enter her mind.

 _Shelter_ , Kitiara's brain demanded, _shelter now_!

As if by some miracle, as if a god had heard her prayers, just beyond some trees, a small civilian village appeared. She gave a sigh of relief and ploughed forward. The village, which she would have imagined was quite beautiful back in the day, was an impoverished wreck to say the least. The windows and roofs had holes in them, children sat on the steps of buildings, begging for any spare change or food. The whole scene broke Kitiara's heart. She had never witnessed anything like it. Every place she had visited, even her hometown, was well off. There wasn't the threat of starvation, famine and disease.

The first place Kitiara went to was the only inn in the village. It seemed to be the best looking building there and so Kitiara believed that it was the most suitable place to find substantial information about the situation.

She pushed open the door and was greeted with silence. Well, it wasn't necessarily silence as there were 2 old men in the corner, mumbling in the corner over their game of shogi, but aside from that, there were no other sounds. Unbothered by her surroundings, she marched up to the counter and gave a small cough.

"Can I help you?" The old crone, who seemed to be the boss of the establishment, said.

"Hello, I'm just a traveller and I was wondering if you could tell me what's going on here? The village is... it's..." Kitiara struggled to find the right words that wouldn't offend her.

"A wreck, a shambles, a piece of trash?" She filled in for her ending in a small chuckle.

"Errrr, that wasn't what I was going to say, but something like that." Kitiara gave a small smile.

"Well, since you're new around here and I know that you're a kunoichi, and you're going to help us fix this problem, I'll tell you what's happening, and give ya a meal on the house!"

"Wait, I didn't say I'd do anything," the 20 year old began.

A literal witches cackle was the only response Kitiara got.

Six months. Six long and tiring months. It seemed to Kitiara as though she didn't have any luck with time. She'd spent too long in Suna and now in Tama. It was now the end of June and Kitiara had made little progress tacking the problem attacking the people. It was a job not meant for one shinobi, but rather a squad or even another village.

This issue was that the Takigakure Village was pillaging the people, robbing them of their money and damaging their houses all for a special herb that is extremely useful in healing wounds. The herb is located in some of the rock pools towards the west of the village. The people have no one but passing travellers to help them, however once they heard that it's the damage of a ninja village, they abandon Tama all together. The Taki nin invade the village, take the herbs, ruin homes and lives and then leave. The herbs grow at an alarming rate, so there is never a lack of them in the pools. This equates to a constant supply for the invading shinobi, which makes a rough and never ending loop that Kitara had spent the last 6 months trying to break, to no avail.

Just to try and clear her head, Kitiara went out for a walk around the surrounding area. She took her _chisa katanas_ , as she never left her permanent room in the inn without it, due to the amount of fights she had gotten into with Taki shinobi. She left in the early morning, around 6am, in order to cover some ground. She wanted to visit one of the many famous waterfalls in the area that she had frequented often during her time there. It was her special spot. There, she could be Kitiara and just Kitiara. Not a kunoichi, not the village saviour, not the girl fighting for a lost cause. Just a 20-year-old girl, swimming in a bunch of rock pools.

She reached the pools within an hour and stripped down to her underwear. The pools were arranged in rings around 1 tree with a total of around 20 pools altogether. She decided to pick one of the pools closer to the tree as those ones were warmer than the pools further out. She stepped in and gave a massive sigh of relief. That was the treat that she had been waiting for, for the past 2 weeks.

She somehow managed to fall asleep and only woke up around midday, due to the sun beating down on her head. She shuffled out of the water and didn't even look to see how prune-like her skin appeared. She had brought lunch knowing she'd probably be out all day. She picked up her bag and settled down underneath the tree in the centre and ate her food. It was just some left over rice and spring rolls but it was more than what other kids got in a week, so she knew she should be grateful.

She sat, for hours on end, just observing nature and the forest around her. It was her calm in the storm and she was going to take full advantage of it. Birds and insects (gross) that she had never seen before surrounded her and she was amazed. Every time she came there, she had a difference experience. This unnamed country was almost like a new world.

As the evening rolled closer, Kitiara packed up her bags and put on her clothes. She didn't want to leave, but she had to. She had to prepare any equipment and materials that she would need for the repairs she was going to complete tomorrow.

She was walking through the slightly rocky terrain when she started to smell it. The smell of smoke. For it to reach her all the way out there, it had to be a big fire. When the scent began to get stronger, Kitiara ran towards it. Was she stupid for doing that? Yes. Was she even more stupid for going in without a plan? Yes. But did she care? Ha, no.

She raced and raced, faster and faster, the feeling of a hundred bulls running around her stomach was only increasing. Once she broke through the tree line, she stopped in her tracks. The whole village was burnt down. The women, men, and children of the village were reduced down to piles of ash and bone on the ground. The buildings were gone, and what laid in their place was just wooden beams and smoke tendrils. However, the only thing left standing in the whole village was the flag of Takigakure on a stick.

Kitiara supposed that they had grown tired of the constant need to invade for something they clearly thought was theirs and probably tired of the "village defender" from the Land of Water. This was their best method towards disposing the two thorns in their side. Who knows, they could've had the village under constant surveillance in order to pick the best time of when to attack? The thought made Kitiara sick and she dropped to her knees and heaved. Her tears dripped off her face and mixed with the mess she'd left on the floor.

After a few minutes, she composed herself, got up and walked to where the inn was. All that was left of it was wood, ash and the odd belongings of anyone who had stayed there. She dug through the mess to find anything if her own. She thanked the gods that she had taken a few of her things with her today on her trip to the pools. She found what scraps were left of her belongings, salvaged what she could (one top, two trousers, one pair of underwear the rest of her ninja tools and a necklace), and put it away in her bag.

She hiked it up her shoulder and made her way to the Tama rock pools. She knew that the Takigakure ninja would have tried to take everything, but they didn't know the pools like she did. She had lived there for 6 months and was told all the secrets by Mari (the innkeeper). After collecting her remaining belongings, she stood by the 'gates' (or what remained of them) and said a prayer to all the souls of the village. She would not forget a single one of them; for the village had showed her incredible kindness.

She turned and walked away from Tama. Never once did she look back, as this was another stage in Kitiara's life and she was eager to move onto the next.

The echo of a male groan echoed around the cave Kitiara was sleeping in. She shot up from her make-shift bed (just her back pack for a pillow and her cloak for a blanket), grabbed her _katanas_ and crept towards the mouth of the cave. As she neared it, the groan sounded again and now Kitiara understood that it was probably from a wounded shinobi.

The man stumbled forward out of the forest and dropped head first to the ground right at the cave entrance. She cautiously walked out to him and prodded his back with her foot. He moved slightly but other than that, he seemed to be out cold. She flipped him over and saw that he was a nin from Konoha, one of the great Hidden Villages of the shinobi world.

The Nadeshiko Village was on good terms with Konoha, this only occurred from the deal Ayume had made with Jiraiya years ago. This meant that Kitiara held no animosity towards the nin and brought him into her cave.

As it was dark, she had made a small fire pit near to the back of the cave to avoid any possible predators or passing shinobi from seeing the light. She propped him up against the wall and looked him over for injuries. She saw that he had a couple of scratches over his body and face (most likely from shuriken) and a serious kunai wound to his thigh. It might have even severed his femoral artery, prompting major blood loss.

She worked quickly to make a tourniquet and to prevent any further damage. She sterilised the wound, used a medical ninjutsu that she had learned in Suna and bandaged it with the little supplies she had and then worked on cleaning the rest of his injuries. Her medical skills were nowhere near to medical nins, but she had had practice in Suna when she and Kaori had worked on her chakra control.

After helping him, she got some of her water and cleaned the blood of her hands and his face. Now she could get a good look at him. The light from the crackling fire showed that he was a handsome man, maybe a year or two older than her. He had short dark hair and had the beginnings of some facial hair as well. He had a strong nose and a thick tan too. Kitiara would say his most distinguishable feature wasn't actually a physical one, but rather a sensory one. The smell of cigarettes clung to him like a second skin, however it wasn't a thick disgusting smell, but rather one that was hidden underneath layers of aftershave. It, weirdly enough, served as a comfort to Kitiara, as it reminded her of her father who, although had long grown out of the smell and cigarettes, still had it.

Kitiara realises that she was staring and thought about what she would say if he suddenly woke up. She cringed at the possibility of the future encounter and backed up against the wall next to him. She lifted her cloak and placed it over him and got ready for bed again. Once her head hit her bag, she was out like a light.

Prod. Prod. Prod. Right onto Kitiara's forehead. She grumbled and waved away the annoyance. Prod. Prod. Before it could happen one more time (which was when Kitiara would lose her cool and slice the thing with her sword), she grabbed the thing hard. A yelp sounded out and Kitiara's golden brown eyes snapped open. She looked upwards and saw the shinobi she had helped last night.

"Woah! Woah! Calm down! Please," he shouted when he found a pair of katanas at his neck. "I just wanted to thank you for bandaging and healing me."

She looked at him warily, and then dropped her swords while stiffly saying,

"It was no problem. Don't worry about it." It wasn't that Kitiara felt agitated by his gratitude; instead she didn't know what to do with it. She wasn't very good with compliments and so felt extremely embarrassed. She was lucky that her skin was dark enough that her blush didn't show.

"I'm Sarutobi Asuma, shinobi from Konoha. And you are..." he trailed off. Kitiara had gathered that he wasn't too bad of a guy, so telling him her name and where she was from wouldn't kill anyone.

"Ugoki Kitiara from the Nadeshiko Villa-"

Asuma jumped in before she could finish my sentence, "Oh, I've heard of there, is it really a village run by kunoichi? Wait, you don't have the look of a Land of Water nin. Are you really from there or are you lying?" By the end of his sentence, he was reaching for his kunai holster, only to find that she had taken it off to allow him to sleep better.

She huffed in annoyance,

"Yes, it is run by kunoichi and women do have higher status in the social hierarchy of the village than men. And yes, I don't look like a Land of Water nin because my family originated from Kumo. Enough about me though, why were you attacked?"

He glanced to the side and brought his hand up to scratch the back of his head nervously. Obviously he wasn't sure on whether he could tell her, so she helped him make his decision.

"Listen, I know you feel some type of way about telling me, but I was the one who had to use their medical supplies (which are now finished) and medical jutsus to help you. So I think I at least deserve to know what happened and why."

With his head back and eyes to the ceiling, he said,

"Fine. I was attacked by some shinobi from Takigakure. I was on my way to help a small village that Takigakure had been pillaging for some time. However, I didn't expect to see them this far out, and there was one of me and 5 of them. I managed to escape by the skin of my teeth and now I'm here."

It was odd that the Taki shinobi would by this far out as the Tama village had been to the west of the unnamed country, and Kitiara and Asuma were in the south right next to the Land of Fire border. She would've expected Takigakure to use a lot of their shinobi for taking all the supplies and herbs from Tama.

However, Kitiara felt more anger towards the face that it had taken Konoha and any other ninja village more than 6 months (it was probably more like years, since it had been an on-going problem even before Kitiara had arrived) to decided to send help to ... She felt herself becoming more furious as she realised that Konoha had down played the severity of the situation by sending only one shinobi to tackle the issue. Even a genin team would've been better. And she wasn't downplaying Asuma's skills (as escaping 5 shinobi by yourself was an incredible feat) but if there were more people that would've been so much better.

"Ugoki-san, Ugoki-san!" Asuma called.

"Huh?" She intelligently replied.

"I've been calling you for a minute, your hands are shaking. What's wrong?"

Kitiara looked down and saw that he was right. Her hands were shaking, from her anger more than anything. She looked up and was about to yell at him, until she realised it wasn't his fault.

She sighed and said,

"Sorry Sarutobi-san, I'm just a little upset. The village you were heading to was burned down just 2 days ago by Takigakure. I'd been there for 6 months trying to help the civilians, but anything I did just didn't work. They'd been waiting for help from a ninja village for years and now it doesn't matter anymore."

Asuma was silent. He didn't know what to say. He felt a funny feeling in his chest and realised that he was angry, but more so, disappointed. In the fact that Konoha hadn't done anything to help a civilian village that desperately needed their help. It was unbecoming of Konoha and also, it was unbecoming of any decent shinobi.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. All she could say in reply was don't worry. It wasn't his fault that nothing happened.

Kitiara broke the silence and asked him about his home life in Konoha and from there they struck up a friendly conversation. They got to know each other rather well as Kitiara didn't want to leave Asuma to fend for his self while injured, so she hunted for him and looked after his injuries. However what she wasn't aware of was Asuma slowly working his lyrical magic by convincing her to come with him to Konoha. Being the polite person she was, she didn't say no as she couldn't imagine what would happen to him without her. And so they set off on their third day, hoping to get there within a weeks time.

However, as we said before, Kitiara really didn't have any luck with time and so the journey that was supposed to only take a week, took two instead. This was mainly due to Asuma's injury, which although was slowly healing, still debilitated him. The knife wound had done a lot of damage, so they had to really slow down their pace. The two weeks and three days they had spent together strengthened their already growing friendship into one more of a sibling relationship.

Both of them were easy-going people, and thus got along quite well. However, just like any pair of siblings, they did have their arguments, which would lead to silence between them, until Asuma required Kitiara's help for something. Then they'd be back to speaking like old friends. They talked about everything, from family and friends to training and jutsus. Kitiara had mentioned her problems with the combination of chakra and bukijutsu, and Asuma had just replied in a knowing smile. When she questioned him, he tapped the side of his nose and smiled. Her birthday had passed while they were travelling as well and so they held a small-very small-celebration with Asuma wishing her a happy birthday and promising her a better gift in Konohagakure.

The gates of Konoha were truly a sight to behold for the two shinobi who had been non-stop travelling. Kitiara, who for the past 2 weeks had either been carrying Asuma's rucksack (as her storage scrolls had been burned in Tama) or Asuma himself. Some days he was well enough to walk (or stumble, as she preferred to say) by himself and then on other days, his injury would play up and he was reduced down to a curly ball of agony. Kitiara thought that more time than not, he was faking it, and just wanted her to carry him on her back. It was definitely a backwards image that made anyone do a double take (a 6' man being carried by a 5'6" woman), but Kitiara complied anyways, because it saved her from hearing his constant complaints, which she had unfortunately learned on the 5th day were incredibly annoying.

Just as the sun was lowering itself on the Land of Fire, Asuma and Kitiara stepped up to the gates of Konoha.

"Woah, woah, woah, you can't just walk in." One of he guard shinobi said.

"Knock it off Kotetsu, I'm tired, injured and smell like crap. Let us in." Asuma glared. The sentence would've had more power if he hadn't yawned through it, but still Kitiara seconded it.

"Oh, errrr, sorry Asuma-san. I'll just let you in, but I'm not too sure about your friend here." The other guard, who Kitiara later gathered was Izumo, said.

In a deadly quiet voice, one that Kitiara's kaa-san would use on her when she was absolutely furious, Asuma said,

"I'm not going to say this twice. Let us in please."

The guards all but scrambled back to their seats, handed her a visitor's badge and wished them on their merry way.

"I've got to learn how to do that. When we get to the hospital, you're going to teach me, ok?" Kitiara asked him, or more like told, as she didn't really give him a choice.

Asuma, just gave a tired smile and pointed her in the direction of the hospital. She could see that he was tired, and so gestured for him to get on her back. Although she was sore too, she could handle five more minutes. Asuma however really looked like he was knocking on deaths door.

He warily glanced around and said,

"I can't. What if one of my friends sees me? I'll never hear the end of it, especially from Kure-" he trailed off thinking of his possible embarrassment. Kitiara was extremely fed up now and just wanted to sit down, eat and have a shower. So she scooped him up in her arms, (maybe to embarrass him further and as revenge for making her wait) and jumped onto a roof in the direction of the hospital.

Asuma gave out a startled yell and began to shout his head off. If he was afraid of someone seeing, well that was his fault. They were bound to see with his yelling.

They reached the hospital in 2 minutes and Kitiara got Asuma checked in. The hospital was quiet (as it was nearly 9pm), however she would bet that during the day, the place was bustling with doctors, shinobi and civilians. She took a seat on the hard plastic chair outside of his room and gave out a loud sigh. One of the nurses came up to her and offered her the possibility of a shower, food and something to drink. There were no beds available but Kitiara didn't mind. She was safe and had the option to sustain herself and relax.

She took the offers and after 30 minutes, she was back in the same red chair. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes briefly.

 _Just a short nap_ , she though, but once her eyes closed, she was out like a light.

Guys,

I don't even know if I should apologise for the late update. Like obviously I'm remorseful etc, but I've come to grips with the fact that my schedule this summer is legit all over the place and so the only time I get to write is when I'm travelling on the tube or bus. This whole chapter, I wrote on my phone (hence all the spelling and grammar mistakes), which was a major first for me too.

Also, I've noticed that my chapters seem to be getting longer and longer, like this is 5k, last one as 3k and the one before that was 2k. This chapter was 8 pages on my pages app, and not gonna lie, I'm super proud. It might not be a lot for other people, but it is for a lot for me.

Anyways, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to have a set update time, because of my mad schedule and also my laziness. Lol, sorry not sorry.

This chapter we finally met the mystery guy that I said we would like 2 chapters back, next chapter will be Kitiara in Konoha, where she'll meet the rest of the gang etc.

Quick fact check thing: I'm not too sure about the Kusa security thing, but I know that the Ame one is definitely correct. In the anime, Takigakure seems pretty chill (as they have a new and younger leader), but I did read that they once wiped out a village and so even if Tama isn't that village, it just demonstrates their old traits. Mari (if anyone was confused) is the name of the old inn/barkeeper Kitiara first spoke to. And Narutopedia didn't provide a name for the old leader of the Nadeshiko village (the one who fought Jiraiya), so I made up the name Ayume.

As always, please vote, favourite, review and follow!

Love, LittleBlueLux x


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kitiara awoke to the sound of a child's giggle and complaining. The complainer was a person that Kitiara knew only too well as she had travelled with him for a solid 2 weeks. The child however, was a mystery to Kitiara.

She blearily cleared the sleep from her eyes and blinked a couple of times. There, posted next to Asuma's hospital room doors, were two shinobi. They had an air of superiority about them and the kunoichi could tell that they definitely meant business.

She shakily made her way of out her seat and went to enter Asuma's room, when a voice interrupted her.

"You can't enter there. You can only enter if you have clearance from the hospital or the Hokage."

The shinobi, who she would later learn was part of the hokage guard platoon, gave her a smug smile because he knew she didn't have that clearance and then turned his head to continue staring straight.

Kitiara's mouth flopped open like a fish. She was speechless. Never before had she met someone who gave her such a negative greeting before she had even said anything. The guard had no first impression of her and yet he had decided that he didn't like her. He had no idea what she had gone through over the past couple of months and the more Kitiara thought about it, the angrier she became. Although her dark skin hid the growing flush of her face, the twitch of her fingers, the clench of her jaw and the furrowing of her brows made her emotions apparent.

Just as she was about to give the guard a piece (or a large chunk) of her mind, the door opened and a child, of maybe 1 and a bit years old, half crawled/walked out and ran straight into her legs. She stumbled back, mainly from the shock, and so did the young boy. He fell down and there was complete silence. Everyone (including the rude guard) froze as they waited for the child to open his mouth and scream the hospital down.

The child opened his mouth wide, as if to scream, and then paused, looked around at all of the grownups and then stood up and said,

"Ouch."

There was a collective sigh from everyone, before the group slowly sprang back into action. The slight ageing man behind the young boy ruffled the child's head and then looked at Kitiara. She expected him to be glaring at her, as after all, she was a stranger just relaxing a Village in one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. However, she was surprised to find no animosity in his gaze, but rather his face showed happiness and one could even stretch the emotion to think there was gratitude in there.

"You must be Ugoki-san. I'm Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage of the Leaf Village. Please, come in. I wish to talk to you about some pressing matters," he said.

He stepped back into the room with the child in tow. Kitiara walked right behind him, but not without sticking her tongue out at the rude guard who just glowered at her and went back to staring down the hall.

As it was around 10am in the morning, the room was bright from the sunlight outside, which inadvertently caused the white walls to burn Kitiara's eyes. She blinked a couple of times and then turned to Asuma.

"Kitiara-chan! I'm glad you're ok; the guard didn't give you too much trouble did he? If he did, just let me know and I'll go an-" Asuma tried to get off the bed, however a hand mottled with age spots pushed him back down.

"Asuma! You know you're not well enough to even eat by yourself, why would you think you could do anything?" The Hokage, who Kitiara had worked out, was related to Asuma through his surname, said.

"But dad..." The 21-year-old whined. Hiruzen just shot him a look and Asuma's jaw snapped shut.

"Right," the elder Sarutobi began, "I would like to thank you, Ugoki-san, for looking after my son for the last two weeks. I don't know how you did it, but I am eternally grateful."

Kitiara, feeling rather bashful, scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Furthermore, on behalf of the whole of the Leaf Village, we would like to thank you for all the work you put into protecting the Village of Tama over the last 6 months."

The room was silent. The three Sarutobi men (or two men and a boy) waited for the kunoichi's reply, however there was none. Until she said,

"But it wasn't enough, was it? Because at the end of the day, the Village of Tama still burnt down, everyone who lived there died and no shinobi villages helped. This thanks that you're giving me won't bring them back."

Her eyes were lowered so she didn't see Hiruzen move his hand to place it on her head thus causing her to flinch. She looked up at the elderly man, who smiled down at her with a smile that reminded her of her tou-san. He would look at her like that only when he knew that she was pushing herself too far.

"You did what you could for the last 6 months and for that, I thank you. It was our duty to provide them with assistance, however we failed, so you shouldn't carry the burden alone."

Kitiara looked up to see the Hokage and his son smiling at her gently. The young boy, whose name she still didn't know, saw his two elders smiling and thought he had to as well, so he sent her a wide gap-filled smile. She gave them a watery smile in return as Hiruzen carried on,

"Now, onto more pressing matters. Asuma tells me that you're a traveller, and since you haven't been to Konohagakure, I would like to extend an invitation for you to stay here at one of our hostels or hotels. We would be happy to have you here."

"I would be delighted to stay here for the time being."

She grimaced before continuing, "However, I'm afraid that I don't have any money to stay in a hotel or hostel as I haven't had many jobs over the few months."

"That's alright, it'll all be cared for by us," Asuma said from his sick bed. He tried to get up, but could only manage to reach so far before slumping back down onto his pillow. "When I'm fit and well again, maybe in two days time, I'll give you an exclusive tour of Konoha."

The young boy, who sat on the corner of Asuma's bed, began to crawl to Asuma, tackling his legs like mountains. Asuma gave a hiss of pain and a small "Konohamaru" before picking the child up and running his fingers over his belly, tickling it.

The Village Hidden in the Leaves was proving to be one of the best places Kitiara had ever visited, and the people (or who she had met, which as of that moment was the Sarutobi men) were incredibly kind and sweet natured. This definitely differed from what the history books had told her about Konoha nin (especially during the Second and Third Shinobi World War), so maybe the Sarutobi's were just a one-off?

Konohamaru stopped his giggling and peered at Kitiara, and then he started to mindlessly babble to her. _Yep_ , Kitiara thought, _the Sarutobi's were one of a kind_.

Sweat dripped into Kitiara's eyes as she walked through the main high street of Konohagakure. The Sun rose and set at hours that were so different from Kitiara's home village so she wasn't used to the bright light that streamed through her hotel window at 4am. She also wasn't used to the heat that the Leaf Village Sun seemed to bring.

She was out on the busy street trying to find a clothes store to buy some clothes (as almost all of her belongings were ruined in Tama) with the money that the Hokage had given her yesterday after her meeting in the hospital. She had decided to buy some today, so that she'd be more prepared for her 'exclusive' village tour tomorrow with Asuma.

She found a small shop on one of the quieter streets and entered it through its red door. The shop was quiet all but for the sound of the air conditioning and the heavy breathing of the store clerk.

"Hello, welcome to _Kūruna Fuku_. If you have any questions about the clothes, please let me know." The kunoichi have a small smile in response and went to look through the racks.

The clothing in this store was unique as the clothing style of a lot of the products originated from the Land of Water. If Kitiara was to stay longer in the Village than she had planned (and knowing her, she probably would), she could foresee herself coming back to _Kūruna Fuku_.

She pulled a couple of trousers and shirts (that were of her usual clothing style of red, blue and brown) off and went to the changing room. After trying them on, she went to the counter to go pay for her goods.

Hitoshi (she learnt his name from the small tag in his top) said,

"That will be 4228 yen." Wincing ever so slightly at the price-she may have possibly gone overboard-she dug out the money from her purse and handed it to him.

As he packed her bags, they conversed, and during that time she learned that Hitoshi was 2 years younger than her and that he was working in _Kūruna Fuku_ because he had an chakra illness that prevented him from being a shinobi (this explained all his intrusive shinobi-questions that he had shot at her). After agreeing to come back again, Kitiara gave a small wave and left the store.

It was now 2pm and the Sun still blazed high in the sky. She had had breakfast around 9am, so she was starving by the time she reached one of the most popular restaurants in Konoha. She entered the bustling shop and was directed a seat. She saw that although they didn't have her favourite food, they had her second favourite (yakisoba). Just seeing the food listed on the menu put a silly smile on her face as it transported her back to the days when she was at home and either her kaa-san was making yakisoba for dinner or she and Miya were eating it in from her favourite food stall.

The thought of family reminded her of her situation and the fact that her family (and Miya) had no clue of what had happened to Kitiara over the past 6 months (given the fact that Kitiara hadn't specifically put into detail what was happening in Tama as she knew they'd worry). She cringed-thus she ended up pulling a very funny face which startled her waiter and the family sitting opposite her-at the idea of telling them, full well knowing that she was about to receive a whole heap of nonsense. However, she also knew that she had to tell them or they may never trust her or talk to her again either. This may seem like an exaggeration, but the 21-year-old knew that her tou-san and Mei would go absolutely ballistic and her kaa-san would give her the silent treatment (which once lasted a whole two months before).

After shovelling her food down her throat (which caused the family opposite her to request different seats), she paid for her food, and all but ran to her room to start her 3 letters. The last letter was for her Sensei whom she had missed dearly. In each letter she first wrote a thank you note for the birthday presents they had sent in a sealing scroll by carrier bird. Then she moved onto the dreaded topic of the last 6 months. After that, in her sensei's letter, she added sentences about how her training had improved, especially from Kaito's help in Suna. And finally she wished them all well.

With all that done, Kitiara slumped back onto her bed and closed her eyes. She fell asleep to the sound of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"From what I gathered through... 'methods', Takigakure was taking a herbs from the Village of Tama due to its special healing properties."

The Hokage hummed. "That herb sounds like it could be very beneficial to the village. Did you find out anything else?" He asked the dog-masked man.

"My 'informant' explained to me that Takigakure decided that they wanted the people of Tama gone in order to obtain the herb easier and faster, which is why they pillaged them." Inu replied faithfully.

"Obviously they weren't expecting Ugoki-san." The oldest man in the room muttered. He opened his mouth to speak again, when a knock was heard outside.

"Come in," Hiruzen said.

A young man, of maybe 19-years-old (it was hard to tell with his mask on) entered the room. He first bowed to his The Hokage, before nodding at his leader and the other gentleman in the hospital room.

"Taichou, Sarutobi-san," he greeted two of the men.

"Ahhh Tenzo-san, we were just talking about your target. What did you find out?"

"Ugoki-san, aged 21, kunoichi from the Nadeshiko Village in the Land of Wat-"

He was interrupted by an indignant voice,

"Wait, you put a target on Kitiara-chan's back? Why? If you wanted to know anything about her you could've asked me. I'm the one who spent two weeks with her." He pointed out.

"Asuma," The Hokage began, "you, of all people, know that security checks must be do n and precautions must be taken for the sake of the Village. You may be angry now, but it was something that had to be done. I'm sure that Tenzo-san found nothing bad about Ugoki-san and from Inu-san's report earlier, we have already established that she is a good person."

Asuma huffed begrudgingly, which allowed his father to nod to Tenzo to let him continue. By the end of the report, 3/4 of the men present had established that Kitiara wasn't a threat to the Village and that she was a nice, albeit weird (especially in her facial expressions) woman. With this knowledge, the Hokage relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. He said goodnight to his son and his two subordinates within the ANBU and went home. The two agents said goodnight to Asuma and exited through the window.

"So, taichou, what do you think of Ugoki-san?" The brown haired agent asked his leader.

The silver-haired jōnin replied with,

"I'm grateful that she saved Asuma-kun's life and that she looked after the Village of Tama, but that doesn't mean I trust her like Asuma-kun does. She could have an ulterior motive (you never know with shinobi form the Land of Water) so I suggest that if you ever meet, be careful."

After that, he gave a small salute to his comrade and jetted off to his flat. His comrade gave a half-hearted salute back, which Inu didn't see, and turned around for the short walk back home.

When Inu reached his home, he crawled through he window, left his lights off and began to peel off his uniform. He shook out his silver-threaded hair and changed into an old top and bottoms. He then sat on his couch and opened up his book. He knew that if he were to go to sleep, he would only receive nightmares, which was as something he wanted to avoid.

At midnight, he switched on the small lamp on his coffee table, flipped to page one and read the first line. He knew the book off by heart, cover-to-cover as he had read it every night for the past 2 years. It was the best way for him to evade the nightmares and so he was eternally grateful to the Toad Sage for writing the "Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi".

However, like every night around 2am, the words on the page began to blur together and the effects of the hard work from that day lulled him into a false serenity of sleep. Although he used the book as a method of stopping the nightmares, it didn't work. And so he was left panting and shaken up at 4am when the Sun's rays permeated his blinds.

He gave a small sigh and prepared his breakfast. He decided to make his favourite dish of miso-soup with eggplant and salt-broiled saury to perk himself up, because Kami knows, he needed it.

Kitiara met Asuma at the doors of the hospital two days after she had last seen him. Although he had a very slight limp from his leg injury, he looked a lot better than before as him skin had regained its deep golden colour.

"You ready to get going, cricket?" He asked her. Her head swivelled round to meet his as she stared at him incredulously.

"Cricket?" She questioned, her voice high in pitch. Asuma just chuckled at her face and said,

"Well, I just thought that it was quite the fitting nickname for you from the way you raced across the roofs when we arrived in Konoha."

She gaped at him for a few seconds before a wide smirk drew itself across her face. Her fellow shinobi held in a shiver and asked in a quiet voice,

"What?"

"Oh nothing much," she replied, "girly," she finished off.

Now it was his turn to gape at her. He froze in the middle of the street, which meant that Kitiara was left to drag him behind her like a lost puppy, even though she didn't know where he was supposed to be taking her.

"G- g- girly?" He inquired. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, well I just thought the nickname reflected the sound your vocal chords made when I carried you to the hospital the other night."

Kitiara was slightly worried as Asuma's face was progressively growing redder. Just as he was about to yell at her, something large and green flew by her and crashed straight in Asuma.

"My dear friend! My dear, dear friend! I'm so glad that you're better again! I went to see you in the hospital yesterday, but the staff hadn't allowed me to-"Asuma had told Kitiara that he'd asked the hospital staff to prevent a certain friend of his from entering his room, so Kitiara guessed that it was him-"so I left you some gifts. Did you get them?"

"I sure did," Asuma said through gritted teeth. "Thank you for them, anyways we're o-" The young Sarutobi was cut off before he could continue.

"And who is this youthful woman beside you? Asuma, what terrible manners you have." Kitiara nodded in agreement just to piss Asuma off, which she assumed it did when he glared at her and said,

"This is Ugoki Kitiara, she saved my life when I was injured by Taki nin, and then she carried me all the way here." He gave her a small smile of admiration that warmed her heart. She was about to speak before hands grabbed her into one of the tightest hugs she had ever experienced interrupted her.

"I... can't... breathe." She huffed out. Her eyes swivelled to Asuma as if to ask for help, but he just turned his back and started to whistle.

 _Oh, it's on_ , Kitiara thought, _it's on_.

After detangling herself from the green beast, she took a couple deep breaths and steps back. She ended up glaring at Guy, however the perpetrator smiled at her as if he had done nothing wrong.

"Anyways..." Asuma broke in before a fight started out. "I'm taking Kitiara on a tour for the Village as she's going to be here for a while. But since it's nearly lunchtime, how about we all get some food? If you," at this, he pointed at Guy, "could collect Kurenai-chan and Kakashi-kun and meet us at _Oishī Tabemono_ that'd be great. We'll meet you there in 10 minutes."

"No problem, friend." Guy all but yelled, "For you, and Kitiara-san, we'll get there in 5 minutes!"

Asuma and Kitiara both tried to tell him that it didn't matter, but he was a cloud of smoke by the time they had even started their sentence.

"So I signed up for a tour of the Village, not a meeting with all your friends." The kunoichi began.

"Well, I just thought it'd be nice for you to know some more people in the Village, that's all." He scratched the back of his head nervously. There was something he most definitely wasn't telling her.

"I don't believe you. You had this planned. Somehow. I don't know how, but you did!" At this, she poked her index finger right into his face. In retaliation, he gripped her finger tight in his fist and said,

"Come on cricket. We'll be late by the time we get there."

They started walking down the high street, passing the small road where Kitiara had bought her clothes just the previous day.

"So..." she said, lengthening out the word, "tell me about these friends of yours. No offence, but I hope they're not all like Guy-san?"

He gave a hearty laugh and continued to walk,

"No, that's just him. He's-" _how can I put it,_ he muttered under his breath- "unique. But then again all of my friends are. Let's start with Hatake Kakashi. I've known him since we were kids. He's quiet and lazy and almost late for everything, but he's one of the most talented shinobi I know, a true prodigy. He's a great friend, and it's like his loyalty knows no bounds. As genin, he used to be the biggest stickler for the rules, however after an incident involving his team, he changed. He's a pretty chill guy all in all. Ahhh, before I forget, he's also Guy's self-proclaimed 'rival'. Guy challenges him to all these stupid things and yet I've never seen him turn one down."

To Kitiara, Kakashi seemed pretty ok. And to be honest, if he was good enough for Asuma, then he was good enough for her.

"Now, Yuhi Kurenai..." Asuma began before he trailed off, the tan skin of his cheeks glaring a gentle red.

"Wait..." Kitiara started, "don't tell me." At this Asuma's skin grew redder and his eyes darted over all the shops. "You have a cru-" she began, but was stopped abruptly by a large band covering her mouth.

Asuma held her tight to him as he whispered into her ear,

"You will never mention this to anyone, do you understand?" He made her promise and so she nodded twice before he released her. After he let her go, she turned around and cackled hard; Asuma looked scared, flushed and genuinely upset.

"Look," she said after composing herself. "I won't say anything. I promise. I too, funnily enough, know what it's like to have a crush and if someone told my crush I liked them then I'd be devastated too." As a child, Kitiara liked a boy from her village, however he was a mere stable boy and already knowing the customs of her Village, she had to learn to dismiss the crush. Plus, he already had a serious girlfriend (even though they were 12) who was a shopkeeper's daughter and so they were more-or-less perfectly matched.

They two shinobi bantered for the rest of the distance to the restaurant and Kitiara learned that Kurenai was the same age as her (actually, she was older by a month) and was a genjutsu master by the age of 21. She was "extremely talented, pretty and was overall an amazing person" (those were Asuma's words word for word, so they probably were a little biased). But the 21-year-old kunoichi was excited to meet another kunoichi who wasn't from her Village (as she hadn't interacted much with them in Suna). All together, Asuma's friends seemed like an interesting bunch to Kitiara and she couldn't wait to meet them.

 _Oishī Tabemono_ was a busy restaurant with a pretty interior mainly consisting of red, grey, and dark brown. As it was lunchtime, the restaurant felt like a war-zone. The waiters and waitresses shot like kunai from the hands of the kitchen doors to their designated tables, the customers 'talked' (more like shouted) at one another as if they were deaf in one ear from an explosive jutsu. All in all, it was a mess, however it was an organised mess because the waiters never crashed into one another and the customers never got into arguments with the other patrons either. Kitiara really liked it. There was a stark contrast between here and the Nadeshiko Village and Sunagakure. She appreciated the difference greatly.

Asuma led her to a table near the back, where it was a little calmer and quieter. There, sitting at what Kitiara assumed to be their usual table were Asuma's friend. She saw Kurenai and Guy first as they sat facing the entrance while Kakashi sat on the other side.

Kurenai truly did live up to what Asuma had said about her as she was in fact stunning. She had dark black hair that tumbled down to the top of her chest in thick waves and deep-set red eyes that were eye-catching. It wasn't hard to understand why she was a genjutsu master as Kitiara felt as though her eyes could cast an illusion on her. Guy was dressed exactly the same as he was when she saw him 10 minutes ago (in his green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers). His hair gleamed in the light and when he saw them approach, he jumped up and gave a huge wave.

The pair of friends walked towards the group and stopped at the edge of the booth. Asuma smiles brightly and introduced her saying,

"So, guys, this is Ugoki Kitiara. She saved my life back in Takigakure and is a kunoichi from the Nadeshiko Village." At this she gave a small wave and a bashful smile.

"Hi, I'm Yuhi Kurenai, this is Might Guy and this is Hatake Kakashi. Please sit down." The kunoichi said. Kitiara wasn't sure what side she was going to sit down on, but because Kakashi was by himself and there were already two people on one side, she sat with him. This meant that Asuma was forced to pull up a chair for the end of the table.

"It's nice to meet you guys," the Land of Water native began. "For the two years I've gone travelling, I haven't really met shinobi my age aside from one nin in Suna."

They talked about her travelling, with Kurenai and Guy being really invested in it. Kakashi and Asuma took a more laidback approach to the conversation. Asuma had heard all about her adventures during their time together so he only chimed in occasionally, however Kakashi was pretty much silent apart from when he ordered his food and a drink or when someone asked him a question directly. Even then, he was a little slow and unresponsive.

Kitiara's opinion on Kakashi was greatly changing as the conversation continued. She liked Guy and her and Kurenai really kicked it off like her and Asuma. But Kakashi... there was something about him that she was unsure of and it made her quite uneasy. Not to mention, the fact that he wore a mask made him even more unsettling as she caught his one grey eye peering at her throughout the conversation. She'd imagine-from the outline of his mask on his face-that he was handsome with his uncontrollable silver hair and toned physique, but his unresponsiveness and lack of willingness to engage in the conversation drew her right off him.

The group talked for a bit more before they all decided to leave. They had rested for a while after eating, so their food was well settled in their stomachs. The group of five stood outside of _Oishī Tabemono_ unsure of what to do next. They all glanced at one another before chuckling at the slight awkwardness (well, everyone aside from Kakashi).

"How about we.." Asuma trailed off looking at the sky as if he had a point to make, but Kitiara knew he didn't. He just wanted to break the silence. Luckily for him however, Guy dropped in with,

"SPAR! We haven't sparred together in a while and this would be a perfect opportunity for us to show Kitiara-chan our youthfulness."

Kitiara bristled slightly at the -chan and informality of Guy, but agreed along with the others. Kakashi seemed to just get dragged along. Since Kitiara had left her _chisa katanas_ back in her room, she told the others that she would meet them at the training grounds (which Asuma had showed her earlier that day in her 'tour').

She hurried back to her room, bouncing slightly from excitement as she collected her armament. She raced back to the others to see everyone warming up and chatting. She entered the grounds just to hear Guy end their conversation with,

"She's absolutely wonderful, Asuma-kun. No wonder you took her on a date this morning, youth just radiates from her."

"Wait, what?" Asuma started spluttering as Kurenai turned towards him with a dismayed and upset face. He tried to talk to her but she turned away from him and started talking to Kakashi. To save Asuma from further embarrassment, Kitiara leapt into the grounds and gave a small wave.

Not to her surprise, Kurenai ignored her (which proved to Kitiara that Kurenai liked Asuma as much as he did her), Kakashi was indifferent and just nodded his head and Guy gave a blinding smile and a thumbs up. Asuma seemed to have become a puddle of misery on the floor. Kitiara gave him a kick (and a not very gentle one at that) and told him to get himself together.

"Listen," The kunoichi began, "Asuma-kun and I are just friends, he's more like an annoying older brother to me anyways. After dealing with his complaining, moaning and groaning for a solid two weeks" (an indignant hey could be heard from her side at this) "I could honestly say that him and I will never end up together. We argue way," she stretched out this word for emphasis, "too much."

This seemed to make Kurenai feel a bit better as her face softened, however she still eyed Kitiara apprehensively, as if to say _I don't trust you._ Kitiara didn't mind however, because she had done her part. It was up to ' lover boy' to do the rest in her opinion.

"So, training?" Kakashi asked, probably bored from all the dramatics and time-wasting.

"Right," Asuma perked up. "Now since there's 5 of us, someone will either not fight or will he to fight twice. I've decided that I'll step out, just because of my injury. You guys can sort out your pairs."

Everyone knew that Guy was going to request to fight his 'eternal rival', like he always did every sparring sessions, which left Kurenai and Kitiara to fight. Kitiara was excited; she knew that Kurenai was planning on releasing her anger from earlier on her so Kitiara really had to go all out. But she had to remember to not get too confident as the older kunoichi was a genjutsu master, and genjutsu was one of Kitiara's weakest points.

Asuma grinned at the pairings and said,

"Ok, the first match will be Kurenai-chan and Kitiara-chan, second match will be Guy-kun and Kakashi-kun."

The two kunoichi stepped further out into the middle of training ground 3 and did the unison sign before preparing themselves. Not only was Kitiara doing this to impress her new found friends, but also to prove to herself that these past two years haven't been a waste after all. This fight was important and meant a lot to her. With those thoughts, the Nadeshiko-born woman steadied herself and got into her stance.

Kurenai followed her lead, her red eyes never leaving her target.

"Three, two, one." Guy said.

"Begin!" Asuma shouted.

The two kunoichi stood stock still, until they seemingly unsheathed their respective weapons at the same time.

 _This is it,_ she thought as she tensed her body for the fight to come.

Hey guys,

So it's seems as though my chapters really will be kinda long from now on. I just find that I get carried away and then I end up with a super long chapter (to me they're long). I decided that instead if using ryo, I'm going to use Yen, beause it's way easier to convert the money. I don't really want to be making up numbers too. Another note, some of you guys might think that Asuma argues with his dad a lot, but in actual fact they did argue quite a bit. In fact, it caused Asuma to leave the Village for 7 years. In this book however, he'll leave for 5 just because I want him to stay with Kitiara for a year, and then be back in Konoha for a year before he's Team 10s leader.

Also, this chapter I wanted to try something different (by going into Kakashi's head). Changing to third person has allowed me to do this easier, which is why I changed. To explain as well, Kakashi is only 20 now, so he's definitely not at the place he's at during the start of the series. He's in the process of healing, even if it has been about 6 years since he lost everyone. He's got 6 more years to get to where he is in Naruto and I wanna show how Kitiara and the rest of his friends are a vital part of his healing journey.

I'm going to university in September, so I'm not sure what's going to happen with me updating etc. Hopefully as soon as I balance school life etc, I'll be back with updating. I don't think this will be the last chapter as I might have time to update before I leave, so my fingers are definitely crossed.

Translations:

Kūruna Fuku- cool clothes

Oishī tabemono- delicious food

(I know the names are kinda unoriginal, but they're just shop names lol).

Please, as usual, review, vote, comment etc

Love,

LittleBlueLux x


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